Subscribe to the latest research through IGI Global's new InfoSci-OnDemand Plus

InfoSci®-OnDemand Plus, a subscription-based service, provides researchers the ability to access full-text content from over 100,000 peer-reviewed book chapters and 26,000+ scholarly journal articles covering 11 core subjects. Users can select articles or chapters that meet their interests and gain access to the full content permanently in their personal online InfoSci-OnDemand Plus library.

Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition (10 Volumes) Now 50% Off

Take 50% off when purchasing the Encyclopedia directly through IGI Global's Online Bookstore. Plus, receive the complimentary e-books for the first, second, and third editions with the purchase of the Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition e-book.

InfoSci®-Journals Annual Subscription Price for New Customers: As Low As US$ 5,100

This collection of over 175 e-journals offers unlimited access to highly-cited, forward-thinking content in full-text PDF and XML with no DRM. There are no platform or maintenance fees and a guarantee of no more than 5% increase annually.

Abstract

Cloud computing is one of the most exciting technologies due to its ability to increase flexibility and scalability for computer processes, while reducing cost associated with computing. It is important to share the data securely, efficiently, and flexibly in cloud storage. Existing data protection mechanisms such as symmetric encryption techniques are unsuccessful in preventing data sharing securely. This article suggests Key aggregate cryptosystem which produce constant size ciphertexts in order to delegate decryption rights for any set of ciphertexts. The uniqueness is that one can aggregate any number of secret keys and make them as compact as a single key. This compact aggregate key can be easily sent to others with very limited secure storage.

Cloud Computing Architecture:

Cloud computing is a model for delivering information technology services in which resources are retrieved from the internet through web-based tools and applications, rather than a direct connection to a servers (Kanchana & Dhandapani, 2013) (Rajasekhara et al., 2014). However, cloud computing structure allows access to information as long as an electronic device has access to web.

Characteristics of Cloud Computing

On-Demand Self-Service: A service provided by the cloud vendors that enable the provision of cloud resources on demand whenever they are required (Zhang et al., 2010).

2.

Broad Network Access: The resources hosted on a cloud network that are available for access from a wide range of devices such as smart phones, tablets, personal computers etc., and these resources are accessible from different locations that offer online access. (Prakash, 2013).

3.

Resource Pooling: The computing resources are pooled by cloud vendors to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand [3]. The examples of resources include storage, processing, memory, network bandwidth and virtual machines.

4.

Rapid Elasticity: It allows the users automatically control and optimize resource by using a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of services (Mell & Grance, 2014). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the service.

Service Models of Cloud Computing

Cloud service models describe cloud services are made available to users. Figure 1 explains three service models – SaaS, PaaS and IaaS which provide resources to the users:

Figure 1.

Service models of cloud

1.

SaaS: It provides the customers with ready to use application running on the infrastructure service provider. The applications are easily accessible from several client devices as on demand services. Salesforce, DocLanding, Zoho, Workday are instances of SaaS are used for different purposes such as email, billing, human resource management etc. (Figure 1),

2.

PaaS: It provides platform oriented service controlling the installed applications and available hosting environment configuration. Google AppEngine, LoadStorm are the instances of PaaS for running web applications and testing their performance.

3.

IaaS: It provides infrastructure services such as memory, CPU and storage. The consumer can deploy and run software. It reduces hardware costs. Amazon S3 and FlexiScale, Dropbox are the best examples of IaaS for storing and maintaining virtual servers.